No, spending $5000 on wheels or $500 on wheels will make no difference in how weak they are. Now there are some wheels that are not street legal - like Panasports - use for competition purposes only. But if you are not a defensive driver you will always hit potholes. I avoid anything I can even when on 15s or in my wife's stock Protege 5. You cannot take an chances with any road hazards or potholes.

The best compromise are 16s. They are lighter (in most cases) than 17s, but look better and 15s don't look as good Only problem with 16s is that it is impossible to find "good performance" tires that fit on Civics.

I went from 17s to 15s cause I'm becoming more performance oriented than looks. Heck I just sold my shift knob, 2 12" subwoofers, indiglo gauges, and a bunch of other show stuff. I'll admit though the 17s looked great.